Recently, the past presidents of the Washington Elks Lodge #129 conducted their annual program of presenting every third grade student in the three school systems in Fayette County with their own personal dictionary.
Program chairman and past president Dan Pfaff explained that the dictionaries, which are designed especially for the third grade level of learning, are purchased from the National Offices of the BPO Elks by local lodges.
Edward Helt, one of the past presidents who has assisted with the program, noted that some people consider the idea of teaching young students how to utilize a printed dictionary as being outdated in this age of computers and other advanced technology. Those who form that opinion should know that the schools’ teachers and administrators always express appreciation for the dictionaries to use them during the school year as the teacher directs. Then since they are the property of each student, should be of use beyond the third grade.
“We also have observed third graders working on computers in the classrooms,” Helt said.
This year’s program marks the 11th anniversary for participation by Elks Lodge #129, which to date has contributed to the learning process of a total of 4,896 third graders in Fayette County.
The information in this article was provided by Edward Helt, Past President of the Washington Elks Lodge #129.
